AROUND THE GLOBE IN THREE MINUTES
USA FACEBOOK LOSES SEARCH WARRANT CASE IN NEW YORK
Facebook has lost a legal fight against a New York City prosecutor who sought search warrants for hundreds of user accounts. The New York state Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that while the case raised important questions about privacy it was “constrained” by the law relating to who can challenge search warrants. Prosecutors in Manhattan sought search warrants in 2013 for the accounts of 381 people in connection with a disability benefits fraud case against New York City police and fire retirees. Menlo Park, California-based Facebook challenged the warrants, which it said were overbroad. In a statement, a spokesperson said the company was disappointed by the ruling and is continuing to evaluate its legal options. /AP
EL SALVADOR SUSPECTED DRUG KINGPIN, 3 OTHERS ARRESTED
Authorities in El Salvador say they have arrested a businessman accused of being a leader of an international drug cartel and raided a series of businesses and a law office. Jose Adan Salazar Umana, alias “Chepe Diablo,” was designated as an international drug kingpin by the United States in 2014. Local media reports say Salazar Umana was a leader of the Texis cartel in El Salvador and has been linked to money laundering through his businesses. Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Melendez said about 50 prosecutors are searching some 26 companies, including hotels, gas stations and residences. Much of the cocaine reaching the United States from South America passes through Central America, giving rise to powerful crime groups. /AP
ITALY ALITALIA STRIKE GROUNDS 60% OF FLIGHTS
Alitalia unions are mounting a 24-hour strike to protest job and salary cuts that are part of the new plan to relaunch the struggling Italian airline. The carrier, which is controlled by Emirates-based Etihad Airways, said the strike Wednesday was forcing the cancellation of 60 percent of flights. It said it was using bigger aircraft on its busiest routes and that more than 90 percent of passengers had been rebooked. Unions say the plan announced last month lacks credibility with a view to short-term savings without a longer-term growth plans. The Italian news agency ANSA says the government has been meeting with the Italian shareholders, which control 51 percent of the airline, to come up with an investment to help the airline return to health. /AP
ARGENTINA EX-LEADER, CHILDREN SUED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING
A federal judge has formally charged former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez and her two children with money laundering and running a criminal association that received bribes from businesspeople. Judge Claudio Bonadio also ordered the retention of about $8.3 million worth of Fernandez’s assets and banned her and her children Maximo and Florencia Kirchner from leaving the country. The judge indicated that he did not order the three to be detained during trial because he did not consider them a flight risk. Fernandez and the two children she had with her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner, can appeal. She said they are being persecuted by the courts and the media. /AP
NORTH KOREA BALLISTIC MISSILE FIRED AHEAD OF TRUMP-XI MEETING
North Korea fired a newly developed powerful ballistic missile into its eastern waters Wednesday, US and South Korean officials said, amid worries the North might conduct nuclear or long-range rocket tests ahead of the first summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week. The initial US and South Korean assessments indicated it was a KN-15 medium-range missile, whose first publicly known test in February was considered by many foreign experts as a potentially worrying development. It uses solid fuel already loaded inside the missile, which would shorten launch preparation times, boost the weapon’s mobility and make it harder for outsiders to detect the signs of its liftoff. /AP
AUSTRALIA POLICE MAKE RECORD HAUL OF METHAMPHETAMINE
Australian police have seized 903 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, known as ice, that was smuggled from China inside boxes of hollow floorboards — the largest ever haul of the illicit drug in Australia. Law enforcement agencies valued the seizure, mostly found in a Melbourne warehouse in February, at almost 900 million Australian dollars ($680 million). Two Australian men, aged 53 and 36, had been charged with commercial drug trafficking and face a potential life prison sentence if convicted. Police are searching for another two suspects in Melbourne. Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan described the concealment of the drug inside 70 boxes of floorboards as “quite complex, quite unique.” /AP